Attending movie premieres, gala events, fashion shootings and such things. Or in general events with a high public interest with no connection to F1. Obviously for Lewis Nicole makes things worse.

Fair enough - some would include stuff like being snapped leaving restaurants and so on, which I wouldn't and see you don't either, so fine. But in all honesty, I think Hamilton's rep for attending such events is rather exaggerated. This year, I could only think of his (unwittingly hilarious) photoshoot for GQ and him going to the MIB III premiere as examples of what you're talking about. And as Nicole was actually in the film, it would probably have looked odd if he didn't go along with her.

But other drivers do fashion shoots - this year alone I've seen stuff by Button and Webber for fashion mags. For some reason, as the DM has the honesty to admit here, when Lewis does those things, it's just more newsworthy. And when that coverage leads to his performance being judged harder on track too, as again they admit it does, I wish they would question what is genuinely motivating their actions.

And when that coverage leads to his performance being judged harder on track too, as again they admit it does, I wish they would question what is genuinely motivating their actions.

It is because he is an heroic driver who came out to nowhere to almost win a championship in his first year. He drives with drama and has had a rollercoaster driver the past years, and he is sexy(not my words). Basically he's a marketable rock star who excites F1 in people.

In life you have to take the good with the bad. Lots of news is better than no news.

Being physically attractive makes a big difference. Look at other series - Rob Huff for example versus Andy Priaulx; and Sebi just isn't. Lewis is, like Jense.

Lewis gets a bit of bias because he's black. It's all fine when he's perfect, like Jessica Ennis, but then any flaws get picked on and exaggerated. A lot of people would so love Jenson to be as good.

And he's interesting, into things, some of them alien to middle-class middle-aged white guys and their readers. Open about his emotions whereas with Sebi for example you're always wondering if it's a cloak for his arrogance.

So put that all together with charisma and you have a star who's a magnet for media who like to make money out of making someone famous and then putting them down again. Their readers love to read about the mighty fallen, the feet of clay. Then that's not news so he has to go up again, ready for the next down.

Fair enough - some would include stuff like being snapped leaving restaurants and so on, which I wouldn't and see you don't either, so fine. But in all honesty, I think Hamilton's rep for attending such events is rather exaggerated. This year, I could only think of his (unwittingly hilarious) photoshoot for GQ and him going to the MIB III premiere as examples of what you're talking about. And as Nicole was actually in the film, it would probably have looked odd if he didn't go along with her.

But other drivers do fashion shoots - this year alone I've seen stuff by Button and Webber for fashion mags. For some reason, as the DM has the honesty to admit here, when Lewis does those things, it's just more newsworthy. And when that coverage leads to his performance being judged harder on track too, as again they admit it does, I wish they would question what is genuinely motivating their actions.

Well, I think he is not judged harder, it is just that any news regardling Lewis is interesting to a wider public, compared to say Vettel. Lewis came into F1 with a bang, he has a celebrity girlffirend, he is charming, good looking and easy to market.

That has the unfortunate side effect, that a headlinge like "3 bad races in a row, trouble between Lewis and Nicole?" works in the tabloids. Give Vettel 3 bad races and try to imagine the same headline... Lewis is the most interesting driver in F1 today, so obviously everything he does and says gets a huge media interest, because there are many more poeple out there who want to read about Lewis, comapred to people who care about Vettel.

But if we are to believe the press (for example f1 racing), putting LH on the cover sells less magazines.So how are people more interested in him?Or maybe there's another reason for all this?

Its pretty clear amongst F1 fans that if you like him or dislike him, you still want to talk about him. I think if there is a driver that holds the record for the most threads started about him, it would be Lewis. I'm a big Hamilton fan and spend about 90% of my posts discussing various aspects of his driving and character. There are people who dislike him passionately with the same post percentage. He's very discussable lol.

Its pretty clear amongst F1 fans that if you like him or dislike him, you still want to talk about him. I think if there is a driver that holds the record for the most threads started about him, it would be Lewis. I'm a big Hamilton fan and spend about 90% of my posts discussing various aspects of his driving and character. There are people who dislike him passionately with the same post percentage. He's very discussable lol.

But if we are to believe the press (for example f1 racing), putting LH on the cover sells less magazines.

And it sells sponsorship spots on the car. There is nothing better than teams than for their drivers to get exhaustive coverage in media. The more mentions of Lewis and photos of him in Mclaren gear, the more his team can charge sponsors.

Is there something wrong with a driver doing those things? He gets a lot of flack for it even though he's not the first F1 driver to attend such events and I really don't get it. Others keep a lower profile but thats up to them. I don't see any reason to criticise either or.

I think, that the thing about LH, is that is wants to be "famous" - not necessarily a famous F1 driver, just famous

but, on the other end of that, every published photo, every televised appearance (away from F1) LH will being receiving payment for the "publicity" - it is all rather ridiculous . .

Fair enough - some would include stuff like being snapped leaving restaurants and so on, which I wouldn't and see you don't either, so fine. But in all honesty, I think Hamilton's rep for attending such events is rather exaggerated. This year, I could only think of his (unwittingly hilarious) photoshoot for GQ and him going to the MIB III premiere as examples of what you're talking about. And as Nicole was actually in the film, it would probably have looked odd if he didn't go along with her.

But other drivers do fashion shoots - this year alone I've seen stuff by Button and Webber for fashion mags. For some reason, as the DM has the honesty to admit here, when Lewis does those things, it's just more newsworthy. And when that coverage leads to his performance being judged harder on track too, as again they admit it does, I wish they would question what is genuinely motivating their actions.

This

I think you have really hit the nail on the head. Why is everyone so fixated with Lewis especially the British Press......therein lies the answer.

Until recently, I would have assumed this too. However, there have been claims recently by journalists that having him on the cover of a magazine results in fewer sales. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I would certainly put a big question mark beside this assertion.

Until recently, I would have assumed this too. However, there have been claims recently by journalists that having him on the cover of a magazine results in fewer sales. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I would certainly put a big question mark beside this assertion.

How they can tell that fewer sales are specifically related to one particular aspect of their magazine over another is beyond me.

Perhaps they have an pet alternate universe where they can run parallel experiments?

I don't know about this,Button won the award so he "sells" more for Autosport.

It isn't about sell people,its about emotions,even the people who doesn't like him or "buy" him share the desire to talk about him.

You nailed it.

This especially applies to tabloid papers who love trolling readers into commenting like the Daily Mail. Tony Blair isn't exactly universally loved but an article about him always generate tsunamis of comments.

I am eager to see how Lewis' brand will be managed now when he won't have golden muzzle around his mouth.

Yep. When Kimi goes and falls off a boat or gets thrown out of a bar it's endearing. When Lewis hangs out with a rapper, it's thuggish.

I can't wait till we get to see Lewis all in his Merc gear. I hope they update their website it's not very good.

Yep Kimi is a great example. When Kimi drinks and goes out (and even brings a bottle of beer to the victory photo) its received as something cool! If Hamilton did this he would be crucified - the only real difference is their colour - cruel world. Hopefully Hamilton uses this to motivate himself!

Yep Kimi is a great example. When Kimi drinks and goes out (and even brings a bottle of beer to the victory photo) its received as something cool! If Hamilton did this he would be crucified - the only real difference is their colour - cruel world. Hopefully Hamilton uses this to motivate himself!

There is blog on this point, I'm neither defending or criticizing it just pointing out its there.

...Can you imagine the outpouring of condemnation had Hamilton dropped the f-bomb just as Vettel did on the Abu Dhabi podium? We'd probably still be talking about it now. While I'd love to have seen the reaction if Kimi Raikkonen had depicted a similar acronym on his helmet to that of Hamilton's in Austin? 'Good on Kimi,' they'd probably say. 'What a legend'.

But Hamilton isn't Raikkonen. And rightly or wrongly, he must play by a different set of rules.

The sometimes negative headlines from the British-based media is born out of a desperate desire to see Hamilton fulfil his potential. Whether he or McLaren have been at fault, Hamilton should have celebrated more than just one title in his six-year spell....

Yep Kimi is a great example. When Kimi drinks and goes out (and even brings a bottle of beer to the victory photo) its received as something cool! If Hamilton did this he would be crucified - the only real difference is their colour - cruel world. Hopefully Hamilton uses this to motivate himself!

I do find it strange. He writes H.A.M. On a tweet and it's somehow crass and repulsive. Drop the f-bomb on a podium on a Sunday afternoon and it hardly makes the news. Interesting.

Yep Kimi is a great example. When Kimi drinks and goes out (and even brings a bottle of beer to the victory photo) its received as something cool! If Hamilton did this he would be crucified - the only real difference is their colour - cruel world. Hopefully Hamilton uses this to motivate himself!

Yep Kimi is a great example. When Kimi drinks and goes out (and even brings a bottle of beer to the victory photo) its received as something cool! If Hamilton did this he would be crucified - the only real difference is their colour - cruel world. Hopefully Hamilton uses this to motivate himself!

It's the only difference if your that shallow. I'd say another difference is that KR has always acted the same way, whereas LH seems to be trying to reinvent himself and make up for a lost childhood.

It's the only difference if your that shallow. I'd say another difference is that KR has always acted the same way, whereas LH seems to be trying to reinvent himself and make up for a lost childhood.

Shallow? I'd say it's more shallow to continually explain the differences away. It's not as if it's just Kimi is it? Compare the treatment of Lewis' lie with Jenson's for example. Lewis' 'monkeys at the back' with Coulthard's. Lewis' falling off at Monza with Nando's at Spa. Lewis' emigrating to everybody else's.

Shallow? I'd say it's more shallow to continually explain the differences away. It's not as if it's just Kimi is it? Compare the treatment of Lewis' lie with Jenson's for example. Lewis' 'monkeys at the back' with Coulthard's. Lewis' falling off at Monza with Nando's at Spa. Lewis' emigrating to everybody else's.

Could you elaborate on the first two? Which lie did Jenson tell the stewards? What remark similar to"monkeys at the back" did Couthard make?

The emigration thing was only a story because he portrayed it as having nothing to do with tax when that was obviously not true. It was quite a naive attempt to maintain the choir boy image. Otherwise it would have been a non-story, or no more a story than when all the others did effectively the same thing.

Yep Kimi is a great example. When Kimi drinks and goes out (and even brings a bottle of beer to the victory photo) its received as something cool! If Hamilton did this he would be crucified - the only real difference is their colour - cruel world. Hopefully Hamilton uses this to motivate himself!

If you think the only difference is their skin colour, then as said, you're extremely shallow, Here's the thing, rightly or wrongly according to your view Kimi takes a bottle of beer with him for the team photo, Eric Boullier tries to take it off him, Kimi waves Erics hand/arm away. When its pointed out to Kimi that his spinning off affected other drivers he said he didn't care about the other drivers.

Lewis has a rant on twitter being all big and bad, only to retract it when someone, presumably from the team/sponsors object to it, he paints H.A.M on his helmet, only to have it covered over when, again, someone objects, thats another difference for you, one of them is honest and true to himself, the other is about as false as they come and imo at least desperately trying to be something he's not, I'll leave you to figure out which is which.

On the emigrating thing, Lewis's father is on record as having said many years ago that Lewis would have to leave the country when he started making real money.

If you think the only difference is their skin colour, then as said, you're extremely shallow, Here's the thing, rightly or wrongly according to your view Kimi takes a bottle of beer with him for the team photo, Eric Boullier tries to take it off him, Kimi waves Erics hand/arm away. When its pointed out to Kimi that his spinning off affected other drivers he said he didn't care about the other drivers.

Lewis has a rant on twitter being all big and bad, only to retract it when someone, presumably from the team/sponsors object to it, he paints H.A.M on his helmet, only to have it covered over when, again, someone objects, thats another difference for you, one of them is honest and true to himself, the other is about as false as they come and imo at least desperately trying to be something he's not, I'll leave you to figure out which is which.

How much of this kind of thing could Kimi do when he was driving for McLaren?

Edit: There are parallels to Lewis, aren't there. Both have done a longish stint with McLaren early in their careers, suffered from poor reliability there, and both left to take over Michael Schumacher's drive.

I do think his race plays into a lot of the criticism he gets. I think it might be a European thing too, our friends across the Atlantic really seem to struggle with blacks in sports, as soccer seems to have constant issues with racism among players and the fans. Further I think the conservative British tabloids and press still has an issue with blacks.

Making it worse is that if anyone questions if there is a racism issue surrounding Lewis Hamilton you immediately get labeled as a racist or just get your comments deleted, eliminating any chance of a meaningful discussion.

I do think his race plays into a lot of the criticism he gets. I think it might be a European thing too, our friends across the Atlantic really seem to struggle with blacks in sports, as soccer seems to have constant issues with racism among players and the fans. Further I think the conservative British tabloids and press still has an issue with blacks.

Making it worse is that if anyone questions if there is a racism issue surrounding Lewis Hamilton you immediately get labeled as a racist or just get your comments deleted, eliminating any chance of a meaningful discussion.

I don't think race has anything to do with it. It's just some of his actions that rub some people the wrong way.I'm a Lewis fan but that doesn't stop me from realizing that he does and says silly things from time to time.

Could you elaborate on the first two? Which lie did Jenson tell the stewards? What remark similar to"monkeys at the back" did Couthard make?

The emigration thing was only a story because he portrayed it as having nothing to do with tax when that was obviously not true. It was quite a naive attempt to maintain the choir boy image. Otherwise it would have been a non-story, or no more a story than when all the others did effectively the same thing.

Ha, well you prove the point. Suddenly lies only matter if they're to stewards and not live on worldwide TV. You didn't even know about DC. It was obvious that Anthony managed all the money and Lewis was more aware of being hassled and set up by paps but you won't accept that.

Am I the only one who thinks Lewis Hamilton is being TREMENDOUSLY stupid to get himself lured into comments about returning to McLaren, because that is family etc? Keep your head down and start with the damn job at Mercedes first, and if you're somewhere in year two of the contract THEN start thinking about leaving them, before even making that public.

Ha, well you prove the point. Suddenly lies only matter if they're to stewards and not live on worldwide TV. You didn't even know about DC. It was obvious that Anthony managed all the money and Lewis was more aware of being hassled and set up by paps but you won't accept that.

I still don't know what lie Jenson is supposed to have told, but it is clear that lies to officials to get competitors disqualified fall into their own category.

I also still don't know what DC is supposed to have said. Since you are not rushing to tell me, I suspect it is not comparable.

The move to Switzerland was for tax purposes, even if it was Anthony's idea. It should not have been presented otherwise, since it generated a lot of bad PR. I have no objection to his doing it, by the way.

Am I the only one who thinks Lewis Hamilton is being TREMENDOUSLY stupid to get himself lured into comments about returning to McLaren, because that is family etc? Keep your head down and start with the damn job at Mercedes first, and if you're somewhere in year two of the contract THEN start thinking about leaving them, before even making that public.

No ... he needs full time minding. He is 27 now. Time to stop this wearing hearts on sleeves business.